Surface covering and process of ornamenting the same



Jan. 1,` 1929. 1,697,426

` c. F. HUMPHREYS ET Al.

SURFACE GOVERING AND PROCESS OF ORNAMENTING THE SAME Originalmed M522 1927 2 sheetssheet 1 HIIIIiIIIIIV i: iiiinl jw" mlllllllllls fllllllll) v.IIIIIIIIIij SIIIIIIIIII illlllllllllIIII'IIIIII IIIIIII III lll I umim 3 Jan. .1, 1929. '1,697,426

C. F. HUMPHREYS ET AL SURFACE COVERING ND PROCESS OF ONAMENTING THE 'SAME original Filed Jan. 22, 1927 z sheets-sheet 2 INVENITOR'S M @WM www@ il mi: W, Mw' M Patented Jan. 1, '1929.

UNITED STATES Y v1,697,426- rATENT .oFFlC CHARLES F.- HUMPHREYS AND JOHN CLARENCE MUCAR-THY, vOIF LANCASTER, PtENN- SYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS `TO ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY, OF LANCASTER, PENN- SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION Olli'` PENNSYLVANIA.

SURFACE COVERI'NG AND :PROCESS OF ORNAMENTING THE SAME.

Original applicationled January 22, 1927, Serial-No.n162,806. Divided and this application filed July 11.8, 1927. Serial No. 206,509.

Y The present invention relates to divisible subject matter described, but not specifically claimed, in our copending application, Serial No. 162,806, filed January 22, 1927, for surface coverings and process of ornamenting the same, upon which has issued Patent No. 1,642,954, dated September 20, 1927. In said application We have described and claimed flexiblehard-surfaced floor coverings having l0 a printed pattern brought into relief by havingcertain'colored portions depressed. In said copending application the invention was described with particular reference to linoleum floor coverings and was so claimed Ain a more specic claim, although We there pointed out that it might be applied to felt base ioor coverings.

The present invention is directed specifically to the process of ornamenting so-called. felt base floor coverings and to-loor coverings so produced.

As hereinafter pointed out, the felt base floor coverings areparticularly adapted for this process of ornamentation because the felt base goods do not become cured during the process of making like linoleum but retain a certain plasticity under heat even after paints are applied and dried.

The invention is shown as embodied in a so-called imitation handcraft tile pattern felt base floor covering of the type disclosedb in theV Humphreys patents, Reissue No. 16,- 510, reissued December ,28, 1.926, and Reissue No. 16,473, reissuediNovember 16, 1926.

.As-disclosed in the said Humphreyspatents, a hard-surfaced floor covering-,'therein referred to as linoleum, has its surface formed with tile-like spaces whichdiifer in color. haphazardly so as to simulate the haphazard arrangement of ceramic tiling, forming what is known as a hande-raft til'e pattern linoleum. In the more expensive grades of linoleum the pattern is formed by the inlay'ing process. The pattern may be brought into' relief by indenting certain of the colored inlays.

In the cheaper grades of floor coverings, and particularly in the so-called felt baseI goods, a color pattern is printed on the surface of the. goods by printing machines .in

5'0v which printing blocks lay on the various colors in paints, usually oil paints.

s described in our copending application',

Serial No. 162,806, the printed .color pattern' may be brought into relief by depressing certain colors, leaving vother colors undepressed. For example, a printed floor covering simulating a tile pattern may be made by printing-on the covering certain spaces colored to imitate tiles, and between these spaces, other elongated colored spaces imitating the mortar joints between the tiles, and this pattern may be brought Iinto relief by depressing the coloredsspaces which simulate the mortar joints below the level of the spaces which simulate the tiles. I

These printed hard-surfaced floor coverings, such as felt ,base goods' and the cheaper grades of linoleum, are customarilyprinted with oil paints. In forming an embossed printed pattern Hoor covering of this type. r

it is preferable to first print the goods and then emboss the printed pattern. This is because of the difficulty of having printing blocks lay vthe paint in the depressed portions, and also because the embossing has a tendency-to irregularly stretch the goods, resultiiig in aA diiiicult registry between the printing blocks land the embossed goods. When it is attempted, however, to printl a linoleum,` and particularly with the relative- 1y slov:7 drying oil paints commonly employed, and thereafter emboss it, certain difficulties are encountered. After the' linoleum has passed through the printing'. machine it goes i 'stead of flowing under the embossing plate like any uncured linoleum, it tends to spring back when the embossing plate is removed. I fa suiicient pressure and depth of emboss- 'ing should be applied to a cured linoleum .to

effect a permanent embossed pattern, the paint would be ruptured because of the fact that a cured linoleum would have to'be indented considerably deeper than the linalcindentation because of the ability of the cured linoleum to spring back. Therefore, when a printed pattern linoleum is to be embossed, a quick drying paint, such as a. nitrocellulose paint, is preferably employed. However,

for commercial printing operations in making printed oor coverings,y it is of considerab eadvantage to use the usual oil paints. We have found that the difficulties which have been inherent in embossing printed linoleum may be readily overcome in felt base goods. y f

The term felt base goods? is one common;

' ly employed in the floor covering art to designate floor coverings made of felt impregnated with a semi-solid bituminous material, such as an asphalt. In making the felt base floor coverings, av sheet,of cotton felt is passed through aheated bath of asphaltum which saturates the felt and renders it strong but flexible. The felt base thus formed is printed with color patterns lmuch linoleum, particularly a cured or semi-cured linoleum., While such a linoleum has a certain amount of resiliency or comeback so that `to flow of the f depressionswould have to be made deeper than the permanent depressions, the felt base goods has practically no tendency to spring back but will flow under theembossing plate and readily retain the embossed pattern.`

The embossed patterncan therefore be applied with the minimum initial impression and with the consequent minimum liability` of the paint to become ruptured where it is stretched into the depressions. Moreover, because of the plastic condition or ability e t base material, deeper embossing may be done with less pressure than in the case of linoleum. We have found that the felt base material has certain other characteristics which render it particularly adaptable for embossing. Linoleum, due to the flexibility of the mix and the burlap backing, may stretch some.

what during the process of calendering or pressing', thus throwing the attern out of register with the embossingp ate. 'This difficulty is not present in the manufacture of Ithe ,felt ybase floor ooverings. VA piece of printed linoleum hanging inthe stove may ecome slightly elongated but lsulcie'nt to render absolute registry of an embossing plate di'tlicult. Theefelt base goods are not. subject to this slight distortion. Moreover,

because vof the im 'bility ofy weaving the burlap backing 'o the linoleum uniformly,

there is. s ometimes a ftendeno' 4to bow or buckle which tends to throw 't e pattern to be embossed out of register with the emboss- The felt acts the tile.

ing plate. Felt base' goods are not subject to this handicap. -In embossing linoleum it has to'be guided into the embossing press, which is rather diflicult due to the rough sidesy of the linoleum which are later trimmed olf. The felt base goods are fairly regular on the sidesv durin the process of manufacture, so that the di culties of guiding the goods to the embossing plate for proper register are minimi-Zed.

It will therefore be seen that'we have found that the felt base goods have certain characteristics which particularly adapt them for being ornamented by embossed printed patterns. lVhile fgr some of the reasons pointed out above it isvpreferable to first print the 'pattern on the felt base goods and thereafter einboss the goods, the procedure might be reversed, particularly with very shallow depressions or with printing apparatus which could layK the paint into the i depressions. The present invention is illustrated as embodied in a felt base floor covering having a handcraft tile pattern printed thereon, but it will be understood that it may be embodied in felt base oor coverings having other patterns.

Iii the drawings- Figure 1 is a plan View of a piece of handcraft tile pattern felt base floor covering embodying our invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a piece of the material before embossing; I

Figure 3' is a section along the line III- III of Figure 2;.

.Figure 4 is a plan view of a pieceof material after embossing; and Fi ure 5 is a section along the line V--V of Fi ure 4.

Re erring to the embodiment of the invention illustraed in the drawingsreference numeral 1 indicates a piece of felt base floor covering having a handcraft tile surface ornamentation, such as isshown, for example, in the said Hum hreys Reissues Nos. 16,510 and 16,47 3. As sliown in the drawings, three kinds of color units areemployed to imitate The units 2 are alike in color, as indicated by-horizontal lines; the unitsv 3 are alike in color, as indicated by diagonal lines; and the units 4 arealike'in color, as

indicated by vertical lines. Usually the units '2, 3 and 4 will be` of the same general color, but of different shades, to simulate the dif-l ferent shades of burnt tiling which, because ofthe intensity of the heat at which they are burnt, come out of the kiln-with different shades of color; although, if desiiied, tile*- iike' units of different primary Colors may. i25- be em loyed, in case a striking decorative effect is desired. In referringtofth'e colors A as varying colors, we mean either different colors or ydifferent shades of the same color. fi .As-.further described\in lthe said Hum- L because of the machine-printing of the floor covering. The area which is shown in Figure 1 as being the width of the strip of floor covering' and in len th from Ato B, which is repeatedin makmg the floor covering, should be of a suflicient size so that the repeat is not readily apparent to the eye. The minimum size of such repeat areas varies with the size, arrangement and varying colors of the tile-like units.` In general, the smaller the individual tile-like units, the smaller the areas over which the arrangement is repeated,

and the larger the units and the more striking their appearance, the larger the areas necessary in order that the repeat will not be readily apparent to the eye.A 1

As shown in Figure 1, and described particularly`in the Humphreys Reissue 16,473, there are preferably units of striking decorative appearance, indicated by reference numerals 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 interspersed in an apparently haphazard manner to still further simulate hand tiling. Thesev inter-y spersed units are usually of some design differing strikingly in color from the plain tile from which the remainder of the pattern is made.

In order to still further simulate the appearance of hand-laid tiling and to obtain an improved artistic effect we separate the tilelike spaces by printed colored spaces or interliners 13 which imitate the mortar oints between the tiles. The color of the spaces 13 should differ from the color of the tile-like spaces 2, 3 and 4, as the color of motar varies from /the color of ceramic tiling. Thevariation in color may be that of a different primary color as for example, a black mortar with three shades of red tiling, or the mortar may be of a. different shade of the same general color as the tiling.

The printed spaces .13 which 'simulate the mortar joints are sunk or depressed into shal low grooves 14, as shown in Figures 4 andv5, to simulate the depressed mortar joints occurring in ceramic tiling. The depressed grooves or recesses are relatively shallow, being usually about 1/32d to 3/64ths of a'n inch in depth and with a width corresponding to lthe width of the colored space which is depressed. The groove preferably has a smooth contour, that is to say, a cross section,

' as shown in Figure 5, does not present`sharp angles or corners, in order" to prevent the retention of dirt and allow of easy cleaning. The depressed mortar joints bring the tile pattern into relief. They cause a much better simulation of hand-laid ceramic tiling than a plane surface tilev `pattern felt base fioor covering. The depressions make the colored atterns stand out strikingl -They also reak up the smooth' light-re ecting surface aHorded by the rather glossy paint printed upon the felt base. 'In lookingacross the room toward awindow, the colored pattern of a plane-surface floor covering may be lost in the reflected light, whereas, the same pattern, 1f brought into relief as herein described, is distinctly visible under thesame conditions.

The numberofv varying colors printed on the floor coverlngs 1s, of course,

limited because of the number of printing heads in the floor covering printing machine. However, by employing a limited number of .varying colors for the tile and anoth r color or shade for the mortar joints, with he'tile arranged with a studiedfhaphaz'ard appearance, the artistic effect ofhand-laid tiling may be securedwith the limitations of me! chanical printing reproduction, and particularly as the depressed mortar joints give the f appearance of the texture of hand-laid tiling. The felt base goods may be used where handlaid ceramic tiling would bel too expensive or impracticable, or even where linoleum would be too expensive. The embossed felt base goods as herein described bring a' highly artistic floor covering into the cheaper grades of material, that is to say, into the relatively low priced felt base floor coverings.

While the colors may be printed on .the surface of the felt base either before or after the depressions are formed therein, it is much preferred to print the color pattern first and thereafter bring the color pattern into relief lby embossing it. As previously mentioned,

l have been dried in the usual manner so that the paint film will not be ruptured during the indenting operation. Care should be -taken that a good grade ofv paint be em-- ployed which will form a paintl film 'which is flexible or stretchable enough so as -not to rupture during the indenting operation. Since the indentingoperation willpreferably be carried out immediately after the goods have come from the paint drying stoves and before the paint lhas had an oppqrtunity to age,there is no particular diicultyencountered inrupturing the paint film during the indenting operation.

yReferring particularly to the process as illustrated in Figures 2te 5, the base of 'the material is the usual felt base consisting of a heavy sheet of felt impregnated with the usual plastic bituminous or asphaltic materials well-known -in the trade for this purpose. After the felt has been thus saturated, it is printed with the usualpaint coating 15 and then dried. The smooth surface material'thus formed is shown in Figures 2and 3.v This printed material is then put beneath an'embossing plate-or roller which has ribs which indent the printed -spaces 13 into the grooves 14.

As-shown in the drawings, the entire color imitating the mortar joints is preferably bodily depressed, .so that the margial lines of the depressions or grooves substantially coincide )with the lines of juncture between the printed spaces. By thus-having a certain color or colors bodily depressed, the colors which "are printed on theundepressed portions stand out. strikingly by contrast. By having the marginal lines of the depressed portions substantially coinciding vwith the lines ofjuncture between the colors, the whole color pat-tern is brought into sharp relief..

' While it is preferred to emboss entire printed cclor spaces, as forexample, to depress the` entire color spaces imitating the mortar joints in a tile pattern floor covering, the embossing might be otherwise done, as for example, a tile pattern floor covering might be made 'without the simulation of mortar joints, but

-, having the linesofjuncture between -the tilelike spacesv depressed in order to -throw the tile-like spacesinto sharper contrast and relief. Also, while we have illustrated the invention as embodied in a handcraft tile patj tern design, it may be applied to other patterns.l For example, -instead of having theA tiles arranged with haphazardly varying colors, the tiles may all be printed of the same color, or with a conventional color pattern. Also, floral or other colored figured felt base. .ioorcoverings may have their printed colorl patterns brought into relief by depressing celsj ,tain colors of-the pattern, leaving other colors standing vundepressed.

. D' The invention is therefore not limited to its illustrated embodiment, but may beothercelored to simulate mortarjoints, and therescope of therfollowing claims.'

wise embodied in felt. base floor coverings an process of 'rnamenting' the same within the We claim:

' 1. The process of ornamenting the surface of a felt base {ioor covering, which comprises' printing on its surface -a series -of tile-like spaces colored to ,simulate tiles,'and printing between such tile-like spaces elongated spaces after applying anindenting pressure over said elongated spaces so as to cause the felt base material to iow and form depressions to .simulate the depressed mortar joints of tiling.

2. 'The process of ornamenting the surface of a felt base floor covering, which comprises printing a color pattern on itssurfa e, and thereafter applying an embossing preure to cause the felt base material toflow and thereby indent certain of the colors of said pattern `to bring the pattern into relief.

3. The process of forming `-an ornamental surfaced felt base ioor covering, which comprises-saturating a sheet of felt with a plasticv bituminous material, printing a color pattern on the saturated sheet of felt, andthereafter applying an indenting pressure over certain portions of the material to cause the vsaturated felt to How and form indentations embossing a pattern on the ma-r and having a color pattern applied thereon and brought into relief by having certain portions ofthe pattern depressed below the generalusurface level.

6. As a'new article of manufacture, a felt base floor covering comprising a sheet of felt impregnated with a plastic filling material and having its surface formedwith a series of tile-like colored spaces having a limited number of varying'colors arranged in a pattern -with an irregularity of occurrenceso as to simulate the haphazard appearance of hand- .laid tiling and separated by elongated spaces v colored to simulate mortar joints, and having the elongated spaces depressed into the felt base material to simulate the depressed mortar joints of hand-laid tiling.

7. Asa new article of manufacture, a felt base floor covering comprising a sheet ofl felt 'impregnated wit-h a plastic filling material and having a color pattern printed thereon, the color pattern beingbrou'ght into relief by.

d having certain portions thereof depressed by an indenting. pressure applied to the mate'- rial after the printed color pattern is printed thereon.

8. .As a new article of manufacture,i a felt base floor covering comprising a sheet of felt 'impregnated with a plastic lilling'material having'an applied color pattern simulating tile separated by mortar joints and brought into relief by having the mortar joints depressed below the level of the tile.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

CHARLES E. HUMPHREYS. JOHN CLARENCE MCeAETHY. 

